Hollow glass block wall



Feb., 20, 1951 R. z. scHREFr-'LER HOLLOW GLASS BLOCK WALL Filed Sept.l5, 1945 HUBERT Z. SCH/PEFFLER :inventor Gttorneg Patented Feb. 20, 1951iJNiT-ED STATES PATENT vOFFICE HoLLoWGLAss BLo'cKlWALL Robert z.schreiner, Philipsburg,-.Pa.. Applicationv September 13, 1945,SerialfNo.^616',081 rclair.y (c1. 72--41) rlhis invention relates tobuilding structures and to building units adapted for use in suchstructures.

According to modern practice itis common Vto create special appearanceeiTects in buildingV structures and their use iscurrently increasing forthis purpose. K

An objection, however, to building structures,

such as walls and panels, which are made up of" glass building lblocksof a -type'nowcommonly in use, is that unlike other comparable buildingstructures their appearance is not flexible. That is, once theappearance eiect for a given installation is decided upon, the eiect isXed for the life of the structure. It is not possib1e, for-ex ample, tovary the effect with paint or wallpaper or other covering material asisthe case wth'other similar building structures.

In accordance with the present invention I have devised a means forovercoming Vthis, disadvantage of the type of glass building blockheretofore in use so as to render thedecorative effect obtainable withglass blocks widely iieXible. According to my invention the glassbuilding block is formed with an internal openended way disposedhorizontally with respect to the position lassumed by the 'glass' blockwhen it is arranged in building structures, and substantiallycoextensive with a vertical face of the block. This internal way in'each individual "block'is adapted to register at eachend face oftl'lieblock with the corresponding Ways in other blocks so as to form acontinuous internal Way when the blocks are arranged in a course in abuilding structure. 'I'he continuous internal way formed in this mannerprovides a channel in the glass blocks after they have been incorporatedin the building structure which is adapted for the reception of aremovable decorative insert which may be selected to invest the glassblocks with any particular appearance eiect desired. In many cases it ispossible to arrange the glass block building structure so that an openend ofthe continuous internal ways through the courses is accessible forinsertion and removal of decorative inserts. In some cases, however, itmay be necessary to make special provision for access p openings and inthese instances special terminal glass blocks of the type disclosed inthe present inventi'on. may beprovided in Whichthe internal Wayopens atone end at an end face to register as previously 'described with thecorresponding Ways in' other blocks, .and opens at the other end in.alvertic'al `face of `the blocks so as to'provide afreelyavailable'acce'ss opening for arranging the decorativeinserts.

lviy'inventionl is illustrated in the accompanying dravvingin which:

Fig. lista perspectiveL view of'a glass building block constructed inaccordance with-my in- Vention;

Fig. .2 is fa lcorresponding.horizontal section;

Fig.' 3i is an'. elevation:V illustrating. an arrange-.- ment of vthe'glass building blocks "of my` invention in 'a:buildingstructureWithdecorative inserts in place;

.ligs-lisA a section on thezline 4-4 of Figi. 3; and,

Fig.f5 isa fragmentary-detail corresponding: to Fig. .1,and'illustratinga'modied vform of gasket forV use in assembling theglass building blocks.

.As illustrated. in'the drawing, the4 glass building blocks of myinvention comprisca rectilinear.

glassbody ID whichmay be. formed. according lto usualmethods employedinmanufacturing glass blocks of theitype. heretoforeV in use. face of theglassbody tu: is illustrated in'Fig` 1 inwh-ich thebodyl is shownbuiltup of segments assembled'xat cemented or otherwise bonded joints `(as atI'I inY Fig. l.) to constitute the body. 10. '.Whenformedin this-mannerthe body H) isread-ilyarranged'with insulation spaces (asat I 2in Fig..1)Lif desired, although these insulation spa'cesl2 `may be omittedwhenever theiriuse is notindicated, and with the openencledinternalfways. l3arranged for the reception of :decorative inserts-inaccordance Withfthe present invention. The body Il] may of course beotherwise cast in one piece if desired. The body I8 is the same as thebody I except that instead of having the openings in either end of theblock for the channel, one of the openings is in the face of the block.

As indicated in Fig. 1 and shown more in detail in Fig. 2- the internalway I3 is disposed horizontally with respect to the position assumed bythe glass body Il) when incorporated in a building structure, and theinternal way I3 is eX- tended as near as practicable to the top andbottom faces of the body I0 so as to be substantially coextensive with avertical face.

When incorporated in a building structure the glass building blocks arearranged in superimposed courses (as at I4 in Fig. 3);the glass AThesur-i blocks III being assembled in the building structure with mortaror cement or other bonding material in the usual manner. As the glassblocks I are built up in this manner to form a building structure theyare aligned so that the internal Ways I3 which are adapted to registerat the end faces of the blocks I0 are disposed to form a continuousinternal channel through each course of the blocks I0 and thus provide achannel for the reception of a decorative insert as indicated at I5 inFig. 4. The decorative inserts I5 are preferably made of flexibleplastic material or the like possessing sufficient body to allow it tobe inserted and removed readily from the continuous channels formed bythe internal Ways I3. As the internal Ways I3 are substantiallycoextensive with the vertical faces of the blocks I0 they will presentthe effect of an integrated pattern when inserted in all of the coursessuch as is illustrated in Fig. 3.

To maintain the continuous channels formed by the internal Ways I3entirely clear as the glass blocks are assembled into a buildingstructure, a gasket I6 may be employed as illustrated in Fig, 1 toprevent the mortar or other bonding material from flowing into theinternal ways I3. The gasket I6 may be made of any suitable materialsuch as metal or wood or heavy paper, and may in fact serviceablyconsist of a wooden block. In any casethe gasket I6 is inserted in theinternal way I3 as the glass block I3 is disposed for assembly in thebuilding structure. As the gasket I6 extends at each end of the internalway I3 one of these ends may be inserted in the corresponding channel ofthe previously assembled glass block so that the mortar applied to thejoint end faces cannot flovv into the internal Ways. It vvill'be seenthat the gasket I6 also serves the useful function of aligning the glassblocks With the internal ways I3 in registry as they are assembled. Thegasket I6 may be adapted for use as just described to maintain theinternal ways I3 clear of mortar 'at the joints and to align the blocksI0 as they are set in place, and then removed from each block I0 as itis laid up; or the gaskets I6 may be arranged to remain in the internalways I3 after' the blocks are assembled as illustrated in Fig;A

5 at I1. In this latter case, the gasket I'.' would only project fromone end of the internal ways I3, and would be spaced from the other endto allow insertion of the corresponding gasket I'I of an adjoiningblock. Also, when gaskets I'I are used, it will apparent that theyshould possess the same transparency characteristics as blocks I0, andthat the gaskets I1 might be formed integral With the blocks I0 ifdesired.

The internal Ways I3 may be arranged to form either horizontal orvertical channels through the courses of building blocks I0 as desired,although the horizontal disposition will probably be more practical andconvenient in most instances.

I claim:

A vertical Wall comprised of glass building blocks arranged insuperposed courses of blocks to form the vertical face of thewall, eachcourse of said Wall comprised of a plurality of glass blocks eachindividual block having a horizontal open-ended internal Waysubstantially parallel to and extending the full extent of the verticalface of the block from end to end and registering at each end face ofeach block with an adjacent block in the said plurality, and a secondgroup of building blocks arranged in vertical correspondence, one ineach course, each of said rst blocks and each block oi said second grouphaving kan internal open-ended way which registers at one end face Withthe corresponding end face of an adjacent block in its course so as topreserve the continuity of the internal ways, the other open ends of theinternal ways in said second group of blocks opening in a vertical Wallface of said blocks to provide an access opening for the reception ofinserts to be positioned Within the unobstructed internal ways in theblocks forming the courses of the wall.

Y Y ROBERT Z. SCHREFFLER.

REFERENCES CITED UNITED STATES PATENTS Number Name Date f 402,073Falconnier Apr. 23, 1889 689,523 Trumbull Dec. 24, 1901 750,561Allerding Jan. 26, 1904 1,142,518 Hinde June 8, 1915 1,203,934 StraightNov. 7, 1916 1,215,149 Heath Feb. 6, 1917 1,277,829 Baum Sept. 3, 19181,334,599 Cusick Mar. 23, 1920 1,827,167 Regan Oct. 13, 1931 1,854,314Ryan Apr. 19, 1932 2,029,876l Klein Feb. 4, 1936 2,167,764 vLytle Aug.1, 1939 2,309,233 Black Jan. 26, 1943 2,392,552 Roe Jan, 8, 1946 FOREIGNPATENTS Number Country Date 117,215 Great Britain July 11, 1918 229,795Great Britain Mar. 5, 1925 805,130

France 1936

